Australia is a great option. We’ve done lots of housesits there-at least in Western Aus. We’d also love to do more in other parts of the country and also NZ. Its all much more laid back ‘down under’ then in the US or Canada! 
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If anything that would likely help you as it shows you travel somewhere to visit and then you move on. You’re not interested in overstaying your visa or trying to move somewhere permanently illegally.
I agree the amount might work in their favour but there are quite a few places that might work against them. A few years ago, before I started petsitting, I was sent to secondary inspection and I was repeatedly asked why I had so many stamps, why I had been to Morocco and why I was going to Belize. This was just a stopover. Flying from Montreal to Belize via Dallas with a return ticket.
I live in the US. I would avoid the US now. It’s just not worth the hassle and I would not only say that to someone planning to do an in-kind service exchange – which is clearly not allowed on ESTA, but even to a tourist.
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Agreed! I’ll be pet sitting between Australia and New Zealand for the rest of the year after I finsih here in Dubai. Lots of less stress compared to the states. I don’t know why they must make it that hard, but we got great alternatives 
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Thank you Girl! It’s so sad, because there is so many incredible sits there, and so much to explore but I personally will follow that recommendation for now until the situation becomes a bit lighter 
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I just started reading this thread today (from the original post in July 2023) …how times have changed in two years 
I’m guessing many sitters from around the world are bypassing the USA now 
I for one am not considering the USA, anywhere else is an opportunity 
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If I was a sitter right now, I would avoid the USA as well. Even though I’m in need of a sitter right now I would only consider nationals. It’s just too risky. Hopefully this will change next year after the midterm elections.
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I had been traveling from portugal to Morocco then to Spain . I was flying from madrid to nyc and went through serious interrogation. They didn’t believe i had been to a conference in lisbon, had to show materials from the conference. It was ridiculous. Finally they gave a boarding pass. After i boarded, they held the plane up, and had security check i actually boarded. I traveled a lot on business, so had a lot of stamps but never had this problem.
A post was split to a new topic: Question about letting authorities know about pet sitting
Quick question related to this topic but does not involve sitting.
We are US citizens and live in eastern USA. We want to travel to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2026. We are wondering whether plain old folks like us have had trouble getting back into the US.
In other words, we won’t be housesitting or anything like that, and once we’re done visiting Canada, we simply want to go back to our home in the US.
So… Have any of you recently (since January 2025) experienced issues with US border staff giving you a hard time, even though you are US citizens and you just want to re-enter the US to go home?
If it’s any help, I did dropin visits for a neighbor’s cats in July. They went to the Montreal Jazz festival by car from New York. They are American citizens though both are immigrants and speak with accents. They had no trouble getting through the border on the way home. I haven’t heard or read anything about US citizens having trouble coming back in to the US from any country.
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An American friend went to Montreal a couple of weeks ago. No issues going or returning.
@Crosswords_and_puzzles If you’re a US citizen, not too brown and have no foreign accent, you’d have to have really bad luck to encounter a border agent in a bad enough mood having a bad enough day to hassle you. It’s possible but very very unlikely. Even if you are hassled, keep in mind that CBP cannot stop a US citizen from entering the country. It just might take awhile.
We’ve passed through the US border twice this year and hardly had to pause at immigration.
,
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CBP cannot stop a US citizen from entering the country, but they can search your electronic devices, make a copy of what is on them, and give you a hard time. If there’s nothing sensitive on them, you have little to worry about. Employees of companies where data security is paramount encourage their employees to bring “burner devices” on overseas trips so that in the unlikely event their devices are searched, company and personal data will not be at risk. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has an informative overview of this topic under “Border Searches” on their website.
I have friends whose lives are pretty boring and I’m quite sure there’s nothing on their phones or computers that would interest the CBP. Nevertheless, they bring “burner devices” on their overseas trips as a matter of principle; they firmly believe in personal privacy and do not wish for the government to have access to all of their chats, photos, emails, financial information, etc.. A search for “Surveillance Self Defense” on the EFF website might be helpful if this is of interest to you.
In today’s environment, I always text a friend shortly before crossing the border. If they don’t hear from me again with 45 minutes, they try to reach me. If they can’t, they’ll call my family - and my lawyer!
As a final note - I am assuming you have a valid, unexpired passport? I ask because a friend recently told me he was going to Canada and he genuinely did not know he needed a passport for that. There was a time you could enter with just a driver’s license but those days are long gone.
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Yes CBP can give you a hard time but they cannot force a US citizen to open up their well locked down electronic devices.
AI search:
Yes, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can make an American citizen open and search their electronic devices at the border.
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I wonder how that would work. I disable face recognition on my devices when I’m traveling and I power down those devices when crossing any border. Short of torture, explain to me how they can make me open up a device?
You need to use a better AI.
any recommendations?
There is lots of information about this on the web; the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a good start. Many US citizens (including me!) are stunned to learn that there is a “border search exception” to the Fourth Amendment. They can seize your devices if you refuse to provide your password, and my understanding is that when they seize them, they can make copies before returning them to you. So even if you don’t provide the password, they have ample time and resources to dig through your files.
Your current approach - disabling facial recognition and powering down - is a great first step for someone in a low-risk category. Journalists, activists, and attorneys often have to go further to protect their information.
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